Incubators for infants



Aprxl 4, 1961 w. H. SMITH ETAL INCUBATORS FOR INFANTS Original Filed April 23, 1957 INVENTORS WILLIAM HAROLD SMITH RUDOLPH FROENER AND ROY T. ADOLPHSON 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2.

ATTORN EY April 4, 1961 w. H. SMITH EIAL 2,977,956

INCUBATORS FOR INFANTS Original Filed April 23, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l N V EN TORS WILLIAM HAROLD SMITH RUDOLPH FROHNER AND ROY T. ADOLPHSON ATTORNEY April 1961 w. H. SMITH EI'AL 2,977,956

INCUBATORS FOR INFANTS Original Fild April 25, 1957 s Sheets-Sheet s FIG.5.

in; -87 {9x 1., 127 I H w" INVENTORS WILLIAM HAROLD SMITH RUDOLPH FROHNER AND ROY T. ADOLPHSON ATTORNEY INCUBATORS FOR INFANTS William Harold Smith and Rudolph Frohner, Norwalk, ]Conn., and Roy T. Adolphson, Webster Groves, Mo., assignors to O.E.M. Corporation, East Norwalk, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Original application Apr. 23, 1957, Ser. No. 654,503. Divided and this application Oct. 13, 1958, Ser. No. 767,248 I r 8 Claims. (Cl. 128-1 This invention relates in general to certain new and useful improvements in incubators for infants and, more particularly, to porthole closures for an incubator which is particularly adapted for the care and nurturing of prematurely born infants. 'This application is a division of our co-pending application, Serial No. 654,503, filed April 23, 1957. I

It has become a well-established obstetric and pediatric practice toplace prematurely born infants in an incubator designed to enclose the infant within an atmosphere having precisely controlled conditions of temperature, humidity, and, when necessary, the proper degree of oxygen enrichment.

Particularly in view of recent medical research with respect to the effect of an oxygen-rich atmosphere upon eye tissue, it has become increasingly important to employ an incubator in which the oxygen-carbon dioxide balance and humidity within the incubator can be very precisely adjusted and controlled.

A further problem which has been encountered in infant incubators of present design relates to the physical handling of the infant. Many existing types of infant incubators are of box-like shape having hinged top-lids or hinged doors in a side wall. Such lids and doors are usually quite heavy and may accidentally drop down as the infant is being removed from or placed into the in cubator. It is possible that the door, in accidentally dropping, may strike and injure the infant, or, as is more likely, strike and bruise theforearms of the nurse han dling the infant. Closely related to this problem is the further problem of complete visibility. When a medicalv emergency occurs in the life of a premature infant, very often a matter of a few seconds in taking action can States Patent Q C 2,977,956 Patented Apr. 4, 1961 2 easily opened for inserting and removing the infant and for access to the infant in times of emergency. 1

With the above and other objects in view, our invention resides in the novel features of form, construction, arrangement, and combination of parts presently described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an infant incubator constructed in accordance with and embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the infant incubator; I

Fig. 3 is atop plan view, of the infant incubator;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevational view of the infant incubator;

' Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 5-5 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is an exploded view of the closure element forming a part of the present invention.

mean the difference between life and death. For this I convenient physical access to the infant.

It is a furtherobject of the present invention to provide an infant incubator having hand ports and closures therefor which are substantially leak-proof and, at the same time, interpose virtually no interference with clear vision into the interior of the incubator.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an infant incubator having hand ports of the type stated.

which will open under the slightest degree of physical pressure as the hand is inserted into the incubator and will automatically close in a substantially leakproof manner as the hand is withdrawn.

It.is an additional object of the present invention to provide an infant incubator which can be quickly and as shown in Fig. 5, thereby holding the flap-forming Referring now in more detail and by reference characters to the drawings, which illustrate practical embodiments of the present invention, A designates an infant incubator comprising a box-like rectilinear base housing 1 having a vertical rear wall 2, side walls 3, 4, horizontal topand bottom walls 5, 6, and a pair of relatively narrow front wall panels 7, 8, the inner vertical margins of which, in conjunction with the forward margins of the top and bottom walls 5, 6, form a forwardly presented rectangular drawer-opening 9.

Rigidly mounted around its lower peripheral margins upon the base housing 1 and extending upwardly over the rear half of the top wall 5 is a rear or stationary shelllike halfdome 16 formed of clear acrylic resin, Lucite, or other similar transparent material, and being provided around its forwardly presented vertical and horizontal margins with a narrow upturned flange 17. The halfdome 16 integrally includes vertical side walls 18, 19, and a back wall 20, the lower portion of which is substantially vertical and the upper portion of which is substantially quatri cylindrical. The back wall 20 of the halfdome 16 is provided with two circular apertures 21, 22, of sufficiently large diametral size to freely and loosely admit the passage of the hand, wrist, and forearm, of anurse, doctor, or other adult attendant.

Provided for disposition across each of the apertures 21, 22, are flexible, transparent, glass-like closure elements 23,'each comprising a mounting bar 24 formed preferably of clear Lucite or other similar synthetic plastic material and having a flat face 25 for snug-fitting disposition against the interior face of the halfdome 16, being adapted for securement thereto by means of small screws 26 which are threaded into internally threaded recesses 27. The mounting bar 24 is also provided on its fiat face 25 with a pair of parallel recesses 28, which open upon the flat face 25 and also extend outwardly into the arcuate back face of the mounting bar 24 for] snugly accommodating and retentively engaging the opposite ends of a U-shaped tightly-wound spiral spring 29, which is disposed within, and extends around the peripheral margins of, a flap-forming fiat envelope 30 comprising two facewise overlying marginally bonded sheets 31, 32, of transparent Pliofilm or other similar material. When the plastic encased upper ends of the spring 29 are seated within the recesses 28, the intervening upper marginal portion of the flap-forming envelope 30 will lie in snug-fitting flat abutment across the flat face 25 of the bar 24 and is provided with apertures 33, for registration with the apertures 27. Thus, when the screws 26 are drawn'up tightly, the bar 24 will hold the flap-forming envelope 30, together with the spring 29 encased therein, and, in turn, the spring .29 will be slightly flexed,

envelope 30 in snug-fitting substantially leak-proof closure-forming position against the interior surfaces of the halfdome 16. The closure members 23 are extremely light in weight and can be readily pushed aside to admit the hand or arm of the attendant for purposes of administering to the needs of the infant in the incubator. However, the closure members 23 will immediately and effectively return to closure-forming position as soon as the hand or arm is withdrawn, thereby preventing any air leakage into or out of the incubator.

Also rigidly mounted in and extending through the side Wall 18 of the halfdome 16 is a suitably bent piece of piping or tubing 34, which can be closed from the outside in any conventional manner, as, for instance, by means of a suitable cap or cork (the latter not being shown). The tubing 34 is actually not an essential part of the incubaton'but is shown and optionally provided to permit the use of nebulizers and other therapeutic equipment which some doctors, upon occasion, use in handling certain types of incubator cases. These various types of nebulizers and related therapeutic devices form no part of the present invention and are, therefore, not shown or described herein.

At the approximate geometeric center of the arc forming the top portion of the back wall 20, the side walls 13, 19, are provided with pivots 35, 36, respectively, for rockably supporting a companion-shaped halfdome 37 formed transparent Lucite or similar material being substantially similar in shape to the stationary halfdome 16, integrally including vertical side walls 38, 39, and a front wall 40. Around its rearwardly presented U-shaped eripheral lid, the halfdome 37 is provided with a flexible bead 41 formed preferably of neoprene or other oxygenresistant rubber-like material and integrally including a rearwardly and upwardly presented flexible flange 42, which is in edgewise seated wiping contact with the inner faces of the rear halfdome 16. Consequently, when the front halfdome 37 is down in the closed position shown in Fig. 1, the interior of the incubator above the base housing 1 will be enclosed in a substantially leak-proof completely transparent dome. However, when desired, the front halfdome 37 can be swung upwardly to afford complete access to the interior of the incubator. To facilitate the upward swinging movement of the halfdome 37, it is provided with a suitable handle 43. Furthermore, to provide convenient manipulative access to the interior of the incubator, the forward halfdome 37 is provided with two circular apertures 44, 45, which are substantially identical in shape and location to the apertures 21, 22, and are fitted with closure elements 23 in the same manner as the corresponding apertures 21, 22.

Along one transverse margin the top wall 5 is provided with two short upwardly projecting round-topped pins 46, 47, which are located symmetrically on opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the top wall 5 in front-to-rear alignment, substantially as shown in Fig. 5.

The incubator A can be readily opened up to insert or remove the infant or to make major changes in the infants clothing or otherwise administer to its needs. For ordinary and recurring situations, such as the administration of medicine or feeding, the infant can be cared for without opening the halfdome 37, but, rather, by inserting the hands through the several apertures 21, 2.2, 44, 45. The flap-forming flat envelopes 30 of the closure elements 23 will be held downwardly in closureforming disposition across the apertures 21, 22, by means of the springs 29, as shown in Fig. 5. Whenever it is necessary for the attendant to obtain manual access to the infant within the incubator A, the hand may be inserted, as above stated, into one or the other of the apertures 21, 22, and the closure-elements 23 will readily yield or be pushed inwardly and upwardly so that the.

hand may freely pass into the interior of the incubator A. If necessary, two hands can be inserted through the respective apertures 21, 22, if the operation which the attendant must perform requires the use of both hands. Whenever the hand or hands may be withdrawn from the interior of the incubator the closure-elements 23 will immediately swing downwardly into closure-forming position and seal the interior of the incubator against oxygen leakage or loss of humidity to the outside atmosphere.

It should be understood that changes and modifications in the form, construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of the incubators for infants may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the nature and principle of our invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An incubator including a transparent enclosure-forming cover, said cover being provided with at least one aperture having a closure element associated therewith, said closure element including a flexible flap-forming portion having one substantially linearmargin and resilient means extending around a portion of the remainder of its periphery for urging said flap-forming portion closurewise across the aperture, and a mounting element securing the flap-forming portion and said resilient means to the cover along said linear margin.

2. An incubator including a transparent enclosure-forming cover, said cover being provided with at least one aperture having a closure element associated therewith, said closure element including a flexible flap-forming portion having a periphery consisting of a U-shaped margin connected at its ends by a straight transverse linear margin, a U-shaped spring element extending around the U-shaped margin of its periphery for urging said flap-forming portion closurewise across the aperture, and a mounting element securing the flap-forming portion at one edge to the cover.

3. An incubator including a transparent enclosureforming cover, said cover being provided with at least one aperture having a closure element associated therewith, said closure element including a flexible two-ply flapforming portion enclosing spring means extending around a portion of its periphery for urging said flap-forming portion closurewise across the aperture, and a mounting bar securing the flap-forming portion at one edge to the face of the cover.

4. An incubator including a transparent enclosure-forming cover, said covering being provided with at least one aperture having a closure element associated therewith, said closure element including a flexible two-ply flap-forming portion enclosing a U-shaped spring extending around a portion of its periphery for urging said flap-forming portion closurewise across the aperture, and a mounting bar securing the flap-forming portion at one edge to the face of the cover.

5. An incubator including a transparent enclosure-forming cover, said cover being provided with at least one aperture having a closure element associated therewith, said closure element including a flexible two-ply flap-forming portion enclosing spring means extending around a portion of its periphery for urging said flapforming portion closurewise across the aperture, and a mounting bar securing the flap-forming portion at one edge to the face of thecover, said mounting bar having means receiving the ends of said spring means.

6. A closure element for an incubator wall having a hand-port therein, said closure element comprising a flexible multiple-ply transparent flap portion provided with a spring element extending throughout a portion of its outer periphery, said spring element being enclosed within the plies, said flap portion also having a peripheral portion free of said spring element, and means by which the flap portion is secured at said last-mentioned peripheral portion to said incubator wall.

7. A closure element for an incubator wall having a hand-port therein, said closure element comprising a flexible multiple-ply transparent flap portion provided with a spring element extending throughout a portion of its outer periphery, said spring element being enclosed within the plies, said flap portion also having a peripheral portion free of said spring element, and a mounting bar having grooves receiving the ends of the spring element whereby the flap portion is secured at said last-mentioned peripheral portion to said incubator wall.

8. An incubator including a transparent enclosure-forming cover, said cover being provided with at least one aperture having a closure element associated therewith, said closure element including a flap-forming portion having one substantially linear margin and resilient means extending around a portion of the remainder of the periph- 6 ery for urging said flap-forming portion closurewise across the aperture, and a mounting element securing the flapforming portion and said resilient means to the inner surface of the cover along said linear margin, said flap-forming portion being flexible and adapted to yield inwardly when an arm is placed through said aperture.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

